Don’t use sales tax to cut developers’ costs

Once again the Orlando Sentinel has neglected a very important issue regarding Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings’ proposed tax for transportation (“Can Demings drive transportation plan home?” March 27). The mayor has publicly stated that transportation impact fees will be reduced if this tax is adopted. This is effectively the same bait-and-switch tactic that the state Legislature, which you so often bash, adopted in the 1980s to get the lottery passed, ostensibly to help education. Well, we got the lottery but the general revenues directed towards education were reduced. Bait and switch again!

If this issue were to come to light, I doubt it would pass. We need to have more transparency in this matter. I would gladly support the tax if there were a provision to continue to charge full and appropriate impact fees, which, by the way, are a percentage of the fair share and don’t fully pay for growth.

Why has the Sentinel refused to print this issue as one of the challenges? Isn’t this part of the equation of what people should know in order to vote? What is the Orlando Sentinel trying to hide? Again, so much for fair and balanced. Do your job. Get all the details.

Michael Dabby